The present disclosure relates generally to power converter systems, and more particularly, to a power converter system of a vehicle.
Vehicles typically include multi-phase power distribution systems to deliver power to one or more various electronic sub-systems. In cases where power distribution systems are installed on very large vehicles, such as sea vessels for example, it may be necessary to distribute power to one or more sub-system located a large distance away from the prime power source. Referring to FIG. 1, for example, a sea vessel 100 including a conventional multi-phase alternating current (AC) power system 102 is illustrated. The multi-phase AC power system 102 is configured to distribute power generated at a prime power source 104 to one or more loads 106. The loads 106 include one or more transmit and receive circuits such as, for example, a Transmit or Receive Integrated Microwave Module (T/RIMM) antenna arrays.
Conventional T/RIMM antenna arrays include a microwave signal processing unit (not shown) and a control signal processing unit (not shown). The microwave signal processing unit includes a number of microwave or RF frequency processing components for processing radar signals. The control signal processing unit includes a number of signal processing components selectively interconnected with the microwave signal processing components for providing control signals thereto. These T/RIMM antenna arrays 106 operate according to a DC voltage supply. However, conventional T/RIMM antenna arrays 106 are incapable of individually converting the prime power into a DC voltage. Moreover, it is not uncommon for the T/RIMM antenna arrays 106 to be located at extremely far distances away from the prime power source 104. For example, the prime power source 104 may be located at the stern 108 of the sea vessel 100, while the T/RIMM antenna arrays 106 are located at the bow 110 of the vessel 100. The distances between the stern 104 and the bow 106 can reach distances of over 500 feet (ft), for example.
To facilitate the distribution of prime power across such large distances and convert voltage from AC/DC, the conventional multi-phase AC power system 102 includes one or more intermediate power distribution sub-systems 112. The intermediate power distribution sub-systems distribute power between the prime power source 104 and a respective antenna array 106 using a multitude of large bulky cables/buses 114 sized to handle the high power. The intermediate power distribution sub-system 112 typically includes, for example, various multiphase AC voltage transfer switches 116 and a power converter (e.g., AC-DC) 118. The AC voltage transfer switches 116 maintain power continuity while distributing the power through the power cables/buses 114. The AC-DC converter 118 rectifies the prime power and outputs a stepped-down DC voltage to the antenna arrays 108. As mentioned above, however, the multiple power cables/buses 114 used to distribute the prime power between the prime power source 104 and the loads 106, e.g., the T/RIMM antenna arrays 106, must be sized to handle extremely high power ratings. Therefore, implementing a multitude of these conventional power cables/buses 114 in combination with the intermediate power distribution sub-system 112 and bus transfer switches 116 adds excessive and undesirable weight to the sea vessel.